Three Black men filed a lawsuit against American Airlines, accusing the carrier of racial discrimination after they were removed from a plane in January following a complaint made by a white flight attendant about an unidentified passenger’s body odor.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in New York related to an incident on Jan. 5, when several Black men who were passengers were removed from the flight. The plaintiffs, Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal, did not know each and were not sitting together when they boarded American Airlines Flight 832 from Phoenix to New York.
Before the plane departed, an American Airlines employee approached each plaintiff individually and told them off they had to get off the plane but did not provide any the men any explanation, according to the lawsuit. In addition to the three plaintiffs, five more Black male passengers were removed from the plane.
More on the lawsuit and incident involving American Airlines.